CRYSTALLINE SOLIDS

Relating Atomic Structure to Physical Properties

This experiment was developed and written by M.L. Jezl, C.R. Landis, D.W. Pollock,
and J.L. Scott.
INTRODUCTION
Most solids you encounter on a day to day basis are mixtures of many different kinds
of pure substances. Although mixtures are common, they are also more difficult to
study analytically. Most of the chemistry you will be learning focuses on pure
substances. Pure solids can be classified as crystalline or amorphous. Solids which
have the same repeating unit throughout the entire structure are called crystalline. You
are probably familiar with some crystalline substances like diamonds, table salt, and
sugar. The network of repeating units is often referred to as the "extended lattice." The
lab will focus on crystalline pure solids because they often have physical properties
which can be related to their repeating atomic structures.
Lab Schedule
In the first session you will prepare the solutions for crystal growth and explore the
solubility properties of different classes of crystalline solids. In the second session
you will harvest seed crystals and suspend them for larger crystal growth. You will
also build models of diamond, graphite, and MoS2 to investigate their `glide plane'
properties. In the third session you will study the morphologies of your crystals and
find their glide and cleavage planes. A model of the NaCl structure will be used as an
aid for identifying cleavage planes. Finally, some of the material properties of the
substances used in lab will be tested.
SESSION #1
Objectives:
* Explore solubility as a tool for solid classification.
* Start growing seed crystals for the next session.
Solid Classifications
There are three important subdivisions of crystalline solids. The first two are covalent
and ionic networks. Network solids have an undefined size and all atoms are
indirectly connected to one another. That is, you can start at any atom and trace a path
to any other atom through bonds in the structure. Networks are classified by the kind
of bonds that are formed between the atoms in the structure. The bonds in covalent
networks are formed by the equal sharing of electrons between two atoms (called
covalent bonds). When atoms of different elements form bonds, they don't share the
electrons equally. Some elements have a strong pull for electrons when they form

bonds resulting in an uneven distribution of electrons around the two atoms. In an

extreme case, atoms can sometimes remove electrons from their neighbors. When
atoms gain or lose electrons, they become charged atoms called ions. The attractions
between oppositely charged ions are called ionic bonds.
The final classification of crystalline solids which will be discussed is molecular
extended lattices. The repeating unit for this class are molecules which are packed
next to each other. It is important to note that there are no covalent or ionic bonds
between the individual molecules -- they are held together by weaker attractions
called intermolecular forces.

Figure 1. Classification scheme for pure solids

Solubility
In the first part of this session, you will use solubility as a way of learning about some
of the basic properties of the classifications above. When a substance dissolves, we
say that it is soluble in that liquid. Chemists usually refer to the liquid part of the
solution as the solvent, and the solid as the solute. Whenever you dissolve sugar in
coffee, you are using solubility to your advantage, but, you may not have considered
how dissolving a substance works. Is the solute destroyed when it dissolves? Can you
get the solute back out of the solvent? When a substance dissolves, it means that the
solvent molecules are able to surround the solute particles and make them disordered.
You can only dissolve a certain amount of a substance before the solvent molecules
can no longer effectively surround the solute particles. When the maximum amount of
solute has been dissolved, the solution is said to be saturated. The extent of solubility
will always depend on the characteristics of the solute and the solvent. Can we make
any predictions about solubility?
Consider covalent network solids, such as diamond. We know that these are huge
extending structures which are held together by covalent bonds. Do you think solvent
molecules could surround and disorder these substances?
Ionic network solids are composed of charged atoms which also extend into huge
structures. Many common solvents are partially charged because of their shape and
the unequal sharing of electrons between different atoms. Water is an example of such

polar solvents. The positive end of water can be attracted to the negative ions in ionic
networks. Likewise, the negative end of water can be attracted to the positive ions.
One by one, the ions in ionic network solids can be "plucked" away and surrounded
by polar solvent molecules and dispersed randomly throughout the solution. Do you
think that ionic network solids are soluble in non-polar solvents?
Molecular network solids are more difficult to distinguish by solubility because the
individual molecules in these networks can either be polar or non-polar. As a general
rule, "like dissolves like" meaning that non-polar molecules dissolve in non-polar
solvents and vice versa.
Experimental Procedures:
<Take notes on a brief video depicting an ionic network solid being dissolved by
water molecules>
Your lab instructor will have a series of labeled beakers containing a variety of
common solvents. Your instructor will attempt to dissolve sodium chloride, graphite,
and sugar in each of these solvents. Record detailed observations of the results, and
write an explanation for each observation given your knowledge of solubility and
solids. You probably don't know whether sugar (sucrose) is a polar or non-polar
molecular network solid. Make sure you describe how you can tell from the solubility
results.
Table 1. Solvents used in solubility tests
Solvent

Description

Water

polar

Methanol

polar

Acetone

polar

Hexane

non-polar

Toluene

non-polar

Benzene

non-polar

For the rest of the lab you will prepare solutions for crystal growth. In groups of three
students, clean and dry three 250 mL beakers. These should be rinsed with distilled
water prior to drying. Prepare and label the following solutions:
Beaker# 1. 40g NaNO3 + 50 mL distilled water
2. 20g K3Fe(CN)6 + 50 mL distilled water
3. 20g KAl(SO4)2.12H2O + 100 mL distilled water

Place each beaker on a hot plate located in the hoods at each bench. Add a stir bar to
each beaker and stir the solution continually while heating it using a medium setting.
Don't allow too much water to evaporate as this will reduce the amount of solid that
will dissolve. When all the solid has gone into solution, remove the beakers from the
hot plates and set them aside to cool.
After the solutions have cooled to room temperature, if no crystals have begun to
form, drop about 6 flecks of additional solid in the solution. These will serve as
crystallization sites. Cover the beakers with a watch glass making sure there remains a
small opening at the beaker spout which will allow the water to evaporate slowly. Set
the beakers in your lab drawer so they may sit undisturbed until the following week.
Questions
1) Your conclusions from the solubility tests were dependent on having some previous
knowledge of the properties of the solute and solvent. How well do you think
solubility would work for determining a completely unknown solute? Which kinds of
crystalline solids are the easiest to determine with solubility tests? Which are
ambiguous?
2) You know that NaNO3, K3Fe(CN)6, and KAl(SO4)2 all dissolve in water. With
what you know about solubility, can you classify these pure crystalline solids into the
categories in Figure 1? Can any categories be rules out?
SESSION #2
Objectives:
*Prepare seed crystals for alum and potassium ferricyanide.
*Build models to demonstrate glide planes.
Growing larger crystals
The starting materials you used in the first session were the solids in a powdery form.
These powders are still crystals, but only very tiny ones. In order for single crystals to
grow in an extended orderly fashion they must be allowed to grow slowly so that each
new atom can migrate to its favored position. Last session you started growing
crystals with saturated solutions of the various solids. The term saturated means that
the maximum amount of solute was dissolved in the solvent. Over the week, the
solvent evaporated, leaving the solution supersaturated. That is, there was not enough
solvent left for the solute to remain dissolved. Instead, the solute reordered itself and
formed a solid known as a precipitate. If this reordering process is too fast, you will
just get the powder back out of the water. Instead, you probably formed several small
crystals on the bottom of your beaker. The goal of this session will be to start growing
one large single crystal of each solid.
When crystals of alum and potassium ferricyanide form on the bottom or sides of
containers , they are sometimes distorted because the growth of the crystal is
restricted. A solution to this problem is to grow your crystal away from the surface of

the container in the center of the solution. You will suspend a seed crystal by a thread
in the center of your solution to allow unrestricted growth to occur. The crystals of
NaNO3 grow with a flat edge all along the beaker surface, so you will not need to
suspend these crystals.
Seed crystals are just normal crystals which trigger further crystal growth on top of
themselves. Disordered ions are more likely to reorder themselves on a seed crystal
(which already has an extending ordered structure) than they are to start a new crystal
on their own. As you might imagine, the success of your large single crystal depends
greatly on having a high quality seed crystal as a foundation. Each of the solids you
will be growing crystals from will have a different shape according to their
arrangement of the atoms and how fast each face of the crystal grows.
Glide Planes
Crystalline substances often consistently break along specific planes in the crystal.
You will be using two different kinds of modeling kits to explore the origins of glide
planes in crystalline substances. Consider the representation of graphite in Figure 2
below. The vertices of the hexagons represent the carbon atoms, and imaginary planes
have been superimposed to enhance the visibility of the graphite layers. In reality,
these sheets would extend for miles to represent just a pencil point of graphite. A
corner of the sheet is enlarged so you can better see the local structure of graphite.
The dotted lines in the blown-up representation are meant as a visual aid; they show
which atoms line up between layers.

Figure 2. A representation of graphite.

Notice that there are bonds between atoms in the planes, but there are no bonds
between layers. You may wonder why graphite layers are held together at all! As a
general rule, you can think of all atoms as being slightly sticky. The more surface area
present, the more effective these sticky forces become between atoms. Graphite has
huge extending sheets of atoms providing enough surface area for the graphite layers
to be held together loosely.
Although the sticky forces hold the sheets together, they are not nearly as strong as
the covalent bonds between carbon atoms. The difference between the strength of

covalent bonds and "atomic stickiness" (by the way, chemists actually call this "van
der Waals forces") has important consequences. First, it explains why there is a
greater distance between sheets than within the sheets (the weaker attractions don't
hold atoms as close). Second, the sheets are able to slip past each other easily because
the attractions are weak all along the layers. For this reason, the imaginary planes that
run through the graphite sheets are called "glide planes." Glide planes are present
anytime the attractions along one plane are weaker than any other planes in the
substance. The extensive glide planes in graphite are responsible for the softness and
lubricating qualities of graphite.
Experimental Procedures:
Harvesting seed crystals
Inspect the second and third beakers for the best seed crystal of potassium
ferricyanide and alum, respectively. Good seed crystals should be approximately 3
mm long and not be stuck to other crystals. Also, make sure there are no
discontinuities or breaks within the crystal as this may be an indication of more than
one crystal being present (hold the crystal up to the light to assist you in this process).
The crystal does not need to be well shaped at this point.
After applying a small amount of Duco-cement to a thread (enough to cover the entire
tip of the thread), touch the end firmly to the seed crystal. Allow the cement to harden
between the crystal and the thread. In the meantime you may make up your crystal
growing solutions and build some model structures (see further below).
Because we consume a great deal of chemicals while making our crystals, we will
attempt to reduce our chemical consumption by reusing as much of our solutions as
possible. If there is any solution left in the second and third beakers, transfer these
solutions to similarly marked 400 mL beakers. You will need solutions with a final
total volume of 150 mL each, so for each additional mL of water added to each
solution, you must add 0.5g K3Fe(CN)6 or 0.18g KAl(SO4)2.12H2O. You may use
the solid that has already precipitated at the bottom of the earlier beakers as part of the
solid added.
As before, stir and heat your solutions until the solids completely dissolve, then set
aside to cool. (Warning: It is very important that the solutions are completely cooled
before adding the seed crystals. If they are not, the crystals will redissolve). Proceed
to the model building portion of this lab.
When the solutions have been completely cooled, bend a piece of copper wire around
the lip of the beakers so the watch glasses can still fit on top. It is all right if there is a
small space between the beaker and watch glass due to the wire. Tie the opposite end
of each seed crystal thread around one of the copper wires and adjust the length of the
thread such that the seed crystal will be suspended as close to the center of the
solution as possible (Figure 4). You may want to cut the excess thread to avoid
dangling it in the solution and having it become an unwanted crystallization site.
Again, cover each beaker with a watch glass and let them sit undisturbed in your lab
drawer over the next week. Refer to the diagram below to make sure you have the

correct setup. The NaNO3 beaker should have crystals starting to grow already, and
these should also be left until the next session.

Figure 3. Growing a large single crystal from a seed crystal

Model building - Solid State Kit
Your group should check out two solid state model kits from the stockroom. With the
kits, construct the models for diamond (pg. 44 of the manual enclosed in the kit),
graphite (pg. 45), and MoS2 (pg. 53). Use the following steps to create your model:
1) Select the appropriate square cardboard template for each compound as specified in
the manual, then place this template over the plastic base such that the colored dots
match in the same corner.
2) At this point, the holes of the template should align with the holes in the base.
Insert the metal rods into the specified holes.
3) Your model will be built up in layers, where each layer is assigned a number by the
model kit instructions. You will start by building the layer with the smallest number
which may be "zero" or "one" depending on the structure. Find the listing of sphere
and spacer types directly below the diagram of the template in the instruction manual.
Below the spheres and spacers there should be all the layer numbers you will be
using. Match the type of sphere (or spacer) to the layer number you are building. For
example, the instructions direct you to use only the colorless spheres in your models
of graphite and diamond. But, note that the NaCl and MoS2 structures call for two
different types of spheres.
This model kit does not show chemical bonds, so spacers are used to prop-up some
atoms to their correct position. Make sure you are using spacers if necessary or your
models won't work out correctly!
4) Place all of the spheres in each layer before proceeding to the next. Repeat the first
layer (1') in order to finish the crystal structure.

Leave your graphite and MoS2 models constructed so you can refer to them in the
next section.
Model Building - Molecular Modeling Kit
Due to limited time and resources, half of the class will build graphite, and the other
half will build diamond. Match up with another group of students so you can pool the
resources from two model kits. The black spheres in your kits represent carbon atoms,
and you will be using them exclusively. The shorter connectors represent single bonds
, while two of the longer connectors are used for double bonds. You will need to use
parts from more than one kit to build your models, so, please make sure that all of the
pieces are returned to your kit at the end of the lab. Each kit should contain 14 black
carbon atoms, roughly 40 single bonds, and 12 double bonds.
Graphite
Start by building a ring of carbons in which every other bond is a double bond. Note
that your ring of carbons all lie in the same plane. The students who are working on
diamond are also building rings of six carbons, but, their carbon atoms lie in different
planes. Continue building rings off of each other until you have a structure containing
seven fused rings like one of the figures below. Dotted lines have been added to show
that the actual structure of graphite continues far beyond the section you are building.
The third structure in Figure 4 is blank, and you may use it to construct a blueprint for
your structure if you wish.

Figure 4. Examples of bond layouts for the graphite model.

The entire structure should lie in the same plane. Remember, each carbon should have
four bonds (except the ones on the edge of your structure). You will quickly realize
that you can't continue placing alternating single and double bonds. However, each
carbon must still have one double bond, and two single bonds. There are many
possible ways you can build your model. It is unlikely that the model you have built is
identical to other models in the lab. There are arbitrary decisions you make which lead
to different ways of arranging the single and double bonds. Because the arrangement
of bonds is arbitrary, your model, and the structures in Figure 4 are called resonance
structures. Even though you can come up with many different structures, it has been
experimentally determined that all of the bonds in graphite are equivalent! This
observation suggests that the best representation of graphite is a blending of resonance
structures. If you were to combine all the possible resonance structures, the bonds
would all be the same, and would effectively be "4/3 bonds." This situation occurs

frequently in chemistry, and oftentimes chemists notate average bonds in graphite and
similar structures by placing a circle inside each ring of carbon:

Figure 5. Graphite representation which shows that each carbon is equivalent.

While this kind of representation may seem less precise, it is the most accurate
description of how the bonding works in graphite. Find another group which has built
a sheet of graphite and using Figure 2 as a reference, overlap the two layers correctly
(there is a specific way the layers overlap!).
Diamond
Diamond is a network solid in which each carbon is bonded to four other carbon
atoms. While this sounds like a simple arrangement, without some strategy for
building your model, it will be difficult to come up with the correct representation of
diamond. Start by building a ring of six carbons. Notice that unless you apply a great
deal of force, the atoms in the ring do not lie in the same plane, as they do with
graphite. There are two basic arrangements of carbon atoms which give the minimum
strain on the ring:

Figure 6. The "chair" and "boat" forms of six-membered carbon rings.

If you look at your structure from the side you may see one of these arrangements.
The first is commonly called the "chair" form due to its resemblance to a lawn chair.
This is the most stable way to arrange a ring of six single-bonded carbon atoms. The
other form is called "boat" and is not quite as stable as the chair form. It is easy to
switch between the two forms by flipping the edge of your structure (if you can't see
this ask your lab instructor for help). For the diamond structure you want to start by
building the chair form (in fact, all of the rings of carbon in graphite use the chair
form). If you place your chair structure flat on a table, you should see that there are
three positions pointing straight up. Continue by building up carbon atoms in these
positions. Place a final carbon atom bonded in the middle of the three you just built.
Your structure should now look like Figure 7.

Figure 7. Fragment of the diamond structure.

This is a basic building block of diamond. Unfortunately, to link these units together
involves removing some of the bonds temporarily. So, disassemble the top four atoms
from your model, leaving just the ring of carbons and three bonds sticking straight up.
Now, pool parts with another groups working on diamond and fuse together three
rings in a triangle to produce a larger base that looks like one the following overhead
views in Figure 11 (the o's represent an open place for a carbon to bond straight up):

Figure 8. The two possible overhead views of the base for a larger diamond model.
The o's represent locations where bonds will extend upwards.
Make sure that all three rings are in the same plane. If one of the rings points
downwards, you haven't connected them correctly. As a group, build the next layer up
to complete three structures like the one in Figure 7. Complete the "pyramid" by
adding a top layer. Your structure should be large enough that you can continue the
repeating pattern on your own. Extend your model by as many carbon atoms as you
have left in your kits. Have your lab instructor check your structure when you are
done.
Glide Planes in MoS2 (both groups)
Compare the structure of graphite (if you didn't build it, find a group that did) to that
of MoS2. Locate the glide plane in MoS2. Remember that the solid state kits do not
show bonds between atoms, so you may want to consult with your lab instructor
before making up your mind. Draw a diagram of the glide plane in MoS2 in your
notebook.
Questions
1) Both the graphite structure and the diamond structure contain rings of six carbon
atoms. In graphite, the carbon atoms in each ring all lie in the same plane, while in
diamond, the carbon atoms are in different planes (they are staggered). Explain why
these rings have different shapes.
2) The distance between two bonded carbon atoms in graphite is about 1.4x10 -10
meters. The distance between the carbons in your graphite model is approximately
0.04 m. So, the scaling factor for the model is roughly 3x108 larger than graphite on
the true atomic level. Find the diameter of the model necessary to represent a pencilpoint of graphite, if the dot is 1mm in diameter (0.01m) If there are about 1600 meters
in a mile, convert your value to miles. Describe a distance that you are familiar with
that is comparable to this amount.
3) Diamonds are routinely cut into various shapes to form jewelry pieces. Do you
think the cutting process is an example of gliding or cleaving? Defend your choice.

4) Diamonds have the unusual property that they fluoresce (give off light) when
subjected to x-rays. This property is exploited in the diamond mining process to detect
diamond deposits. Unfortunately, zirconium is another substance which fluoresces in
the same way under x-rays, and is often found in diamond mines as well. Speculate on
some ways that the zirconium and diamond could be separated after being detected by
the x-ray process. You can just brainstorm, you don't need to look up anything about
zirconium.
5) Considering diamond and graphite, which structure seems to be more dense?
Suppose you are given samples of graphite and diamond. Describe a method that you
could use to determine their densities from these samples. Describe another method
you could use to determine their densities just from the models you have built. Have
your lab instructor give you feedback on your ideas.
SESSION #3
Objectives
* Gather the large single crystals and compare their shapes
* Build models to demonstrate cleavage planes
* Study the properties of some substances studied in the lab
Crystal Shapes
Of the crystals you have grown, NaNO3 has the simplest shape on the atomic level. It
is similar to the NaCl structure in that the chloride (Cl-) ions of NaCl are "replaced"
by nitrate (NO3-) ions. Nitrate is an example of a polyatomic ion, which means that
the ion unit is composed of several atoms, not just one atom like chloride (Cl-). Nitrate
ions have a triangular shape which causes the repeating units in NaNO3 to distort
from a cube-like shape to a rhombohedron. The diagrams below show the repeating
units for NaCl and NaNO3 for comparison. Overhead views of the top and second
layer of the repeating pattern are shown as a visual aid (note that the bottom layer is
the same as the top layer). The shape of the repeating pattern is also given at the far
right. The macroscopic shapes of the crystals you have grown are related to the
repeating pattern of atoms, and also on the growth rate of each of the crystal faces.

Figure 9. NaCl structure and shape of its single crystal.

Figure 10. NaNO3 structure and shape of its single crystal.

The shapes of KAl(SO4)2.12H2O (`alum') and K3Fe(CN)6 (potassium ferricyanide)
have more complicated atomic structures (too complicated to explore in this lab) and
also more complicated shapes as seen below.

Figure 11. Shapes of 'ideal' crystals of alum and potassium ferricyanide.

Cleavage Planes
Recall that unlike graphite and diamond, sodium chloride is an ionic solid. When you
break sodium chloride with an object, it breaks along specific planes known as
cleavage planes. These are similar to glide planes, except cleavage planes occur along
planes of maximum repulsion. The diagram below shows a cross-section of a simple
ionic substance being cleaved.

Figure 12. The cleaving process in a simple ionic substance.

In this diagram, you can think of the large spheres as being chloride ions and the
smaller spheres as the sodium ions. So, what happens when you apply a cleaving
force? STEP 1 in the diagram is immediately before the cleaving force has been
applied. STEP 2 shows atoms shifting downward as a result of the applied force. Note
that this position puts the same charges opposite each other. Similar charges repel
each other, leading to STEP 3 where the solid breaks along the cleaving plane. You
should note that for the diagram above, there is also a cleaving plane horizontally
through the substance. What happens if the applied force is not exactly along the
cleaving plane? As you might expect, forces not directly along cleaving planes are not
as effective. But, if cleaving does occur it will always occur down cleavage planes.
Some solids can contain both cleavage planes and glide planes. Both types of planes
are convenient places for the substance to break. The important difference between
the two types is what occurs on the microscopic level. Glide planes result due to weak
attractions along a plane, while cleavage planes occur when strong repulsions result
through motion along the plane.
Materials Testing
You will test the hardness of graphite and diamond which you have been investigating
in lab. A convenient (though informal) scale for measuring the hardness of materials is
Moh's hardness scale. Some common materials and their Moh hardness value are
listed below.
Table 2. Moh's Hardness Scale
Material

Hardness

Alum

2 - 2.5

Copper

2.5 - 3

Diamond

10

Graphite

0.5 - 1

Iron

4-5

Lead

1.5

Quartz

Rock salt

Wax

0.2

Higher numbers correspond to harder substances. When two different substances are
rubbed together, the substance with the lower hardness value will be scratched by the
other. Diamond is currently accepted as the hardest known material.
Experimental Procedures:

Gathering the Crystals

Remove the crystals you have grown from their solutions. Note their shapes and
compare them with the crystals grown by your classmates. Check out a solid state
model kit from the stockroom and build the structure for NaCl (pg. 24). Locate a
cleaving plane in your model.
Practice crystal cleaving on a piece of rock salt (NaCl). Place a metal spatula or razor
blade atop a piece of rock salt and press hard on it (or hit the end with something
slightly more massive than the spatula) and note the clean break on each edge that it
produces. Now try this with one of the NaNO3 crystals that you grew. To do this you
must make sure you use a `single' crystal which has no disruptions within the whole.
Search for a couple of the best crystals you grew in order to do the cleaving and
gliding for this experiment. Cleave the crystal by laying it on one of its large flat
faces, then align the spatula parallel to the slanted side edges and pressing. How do
the pieces compare to the original crystal?
Now turn the crystal (or a different NaNO3 crystal) on its edge and hold it firmly with
a pair of tweezers. Place a razor blade against one of the obtuse angles (these edges
are parallel to the glide planes) and press gently. The planes should gently glide across
one another until they form two separate crystals. This may take some practice!
Materials Testing
Try to scratch the surface of a glass slide (quartz) using both a piece of graphite and a
diamond-tipped scribe. Use the Moh's hardness scale to rationalize your results. Try to
gauge the Moh index for your fingernails.
Rub two ends of tygon tubing together, and note the strong friction. Now, use a piece
of graphite to coat the same areas of tygon tubing with a thin graphite layer. Rub these
sections together again, and note your observations. Using the graphite spray
available, find something in lab which needs lubrication (door hinges, your lab
drawer, etc...) and describe how effectively the spray works. Make sure you check the
spray bottle for safety hazards and directions.
Place a sample of MoS2 onto a piece of cellophane tape and stick another piece of
tape on the other side of the solid. Peel the two pieces of tape apart, and rationalize
the results given last sessions discussion of MoS2.
Crystal Growing Questions
1) It was stated that different crystals will have different shapes depending on "... the
repeating pattern of atoms, and also on the growth rate of each of the crystal faces."
Describe the kind of shapes that you would expect if all the faces of a crystal grew at
the same speed. Draw a picture to illustrate several of these shapes. What kind of
shapes would you expect if one pair of faces (take two faces on opposite sides) grew
twice as fast as the other faces? Draw more pictures to illustrate these shapes.
2) Your lab partner decides that there are two basic crystal types that you have grown
in a fictional substance called seaborgium chloride. One kind is rod-like. The other

kind has an "x" shape. Your lab partner concludes that the substance grows two
fundamentally different shapes of crystals. What do you think? Give an alternate
explanation for the two shapes.
3) Your lab partner has somehow broken a piece of seaborgium chloride, but, doesn't
have any recollection of the process. Your lab partner believes that since the two
pieces of seaborgium chloride look identical that the breaking process must have been
due to gliding. Explain if this is necessarily true. What should you do to prove or
disprove your lab partner.
Reference (1) Values obtained from the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics,
65th Edition, Robert C. Weast, Melvin J. Astle, and William H. Beyer (editors), CRC
Press Inc., Boca Raton, 1984.